Halo: Dread
by crashARM
Summary: After Master Chief froze himself in space, elsewhere Dr. Catherine Halsey and the survivors of the battle of Onyx did the exact same thing inside the forerunner complex named "Shield World", both waiting for any human forces to find them.
1. Prologue

Halo: Dread

Prologue:

The story so far…

* * *

Halo

**2149 Hours, November 10, 2552 (Military Calendar)****/ Slipspace Dyson Sphere, planet Onyx**

One week had pass already since Dr. Halsey, Chief Mendez and the Spartan survivors had entered the shield world. Nothing useful aside from the Cryo tower was found. There seemed to be no way to open a portal from the inside and food reserves were almost depleted.

"Franklin, I think we will have to enter the forerunner cryopods and hope for the best." Dr. Halsey said. "You are right, but it may take years, centuries even, for anybody to find us." Halsey nodded and took a deep breath. "I know, but that's better than dying in here waiting for anybody or starve to death."

"I'll tell them, get the pods ready." Mendez said.

**0915 Hours, July 14, 2630 (Military Calendar)****/ UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, unknown location.**

The rear half of the _UNSC Forward Unto Dawn_had been floating in space for almost a century know. The only two crew members onboard had entered stasis to save their lives, hoping anybody would eventually receive the distress beacon activated 78 years ago. In the darkness of space, the damaged ship slowly approached a large object camouflaged in the shadows and echoes of vacuum.

* * *

Metroid.

**05:14, January 25, 20X5 (Cosmic Calendar)****/ GF courtroom/ planet Norion **

Samus Aran, the famous, almost mythical bounty hunter was being judged by a Galactic Federation Tribunal on court. She was called in to court a week before, she could have escaped to space, she could have disappeared and nobody would have found her, but her own values and the advice of the AI based on Adam made her do the right thing, in hopes somebody would understand her motives.

The judge begun the judgement, with Samus accused of the following charges:

Damage to the Federation:

Destruction of the BSSL

Damage to the environment:

Destruction of SR388

Extinction of SR388's flora and fauna (including the x)

Destroying billions of credits in Federation's projects:

X and Metroid Clone test subjects destroyed.

"Samus Aran should be punished for what she's done. She on purpose destroyed 5 years of hard work and millions of spent credits. We were cloning metroids on BSSL because, as the federation was already informed, we were trying to use the metroid's potential for good. It's biology gave could gave us unlimited medicinal healing. Ms. Aran destroyed the hope of many patients suffering from terminal diseases and fatal wounds. Ms. Aran herself can detail how a metroid cured her during one of her missions." A scientist acting as a 'survivor' of the BSL said.

"I see, Ms. Aran, what do you have to say about that?" The judge asked.

"Your honor, I was only doing was seemed to be right at the moment, and it still does. The eradication of the X parasite was totally necessary. The X were kept at bay by the metroids on SR388, but when I destroyed them, they took over the planet again, fortunately, SR388's fauna was just non**-**sentient beings, giving the X limited intelligence. But I saw their behavior

change on the BSL, they seem to have the ability to absorb the host's intelligence and memories. They were just waiting for Federation reinforcements to arrive, they would have took over their knowledge and escaped to any nearby colony. For what I saw, they would completely infect a colonized planet in a matter of weeks, giving it millions of hosts to mimic. The potential treat of a whole X armada not to mention the Sa**-**X was inmense.

There would have been no way to stop them, they would slowly infect this galaxy and invade any neighbor galaxies. I lived the X threat, sir, and you have no idea how dangerous the x could be." Samus protested.

"But, Ms. Aran, you were only one, our troopers could have contained the x along with the Sa**-**X." The judge affirmed

Samus grabbed her head in desperation. "The only reason I survived the X parasite was because of my recently developed ability to absorb the X thanks of the metroid vaccine."

"So, you destroyed the cure AND the disease? If the BSL had not been destroyed by your **heroic acts**, Ms. Aran, and IF the x had escaped as you described, we would always count on metroids as an effective way of attacking it." The judge affirmed.

"But the metroid labs were destroyed first by the Sa**-**X!" Samus assured.

"And just were do you think the Omega metroid you battled came from? We had more than one metroid research labs on the BSL, besides, you have always been aggressive towards the metroids, you wanted them finished more than anything." The judge said.

Samus was very angry and frustrated, the judge seemed to want to see her in jail no matter what. "But that's illogical and irrational! The federation ordered…" Samus was aggressively interrupted by the judge. "You have said enough Ms. Aran, I have already made my decision and I declare you guilty. Any objections?" Nobody in the jury objected against the judge, not because he was right, but in fear. Everybody knew the kind of business he was in. He owned half of the federation in bribes. He had a tremendous amount of power, nobody dared to object,

The judge was about to sentence in injustice the bounty hunter, when suddenly somebody steeply shouted: "Wait a minute!"

It was Admiral Castor Dane entering the courtroom, walking towards the judge. The jury looked at the Admiral in total surprise and despite. "No, this has to be a joke, Dane! What the hell are you doing here?"

Dane smiled in confidence. "I can't believe that after all Samus has done for ALL of you scums! You pay her like that. Is this the way you demonstrate your gratefulness to her for saving your ass countless times?"

The judge was about to explode in anger, you could tell by the look in his eyes he wouldn't hesitate in killing the admiral if he could. "I won't allow any more disrespect on my court Dane! This arrogant criminal has to pay for the destruction of the BSL along with all of the biological experiments it contained, it…" Admiral Dane interrupted. "IT would not even exist if it wasn't for Samus, 'your honor'" he said sarcastically "the BSL and all of your little projects wouldn't even exist. Space Pirates would already have enslaved us with their metroids." The judge was surprised by the statement Dane just said, especially by the 'project' part. "That's right Frank, I know many things about you, so you better make justice on this innocent woman, or I will talk."

The judge was left shocked by the last statement of the Admiral. "Samus, as soon as you leave this room I would like to see you on the Olympus, I need to talk to you." The Admiral walked away leaving Samus in full peace. She could feel her soul rest.

"I declare the accused innocent." Samus walked away with a smile on her face heading for the Olympus.


	2. Chapter 1: The awakening

Chapter One: The awakening

Disclaimer: I don't own halo or metroid.

I am trying to keep this story as a loyal continuation to the halo and metroid timelines. The only change I will make is the fact that metroid occurs in the milky way galaxy. It is requiered for my plot to properly develop

**08:14, January 25, 20X6 (Cosmic Calendar) / GFS Olympus / orbiting planet Norion.**

Samus landed on the Olympus. Admiral Castor Dane was already waiting for her in the hangar. Samus exited her ship in her Omega Fusion suit. Samus never liked the looks of the fusion armor, but she didn't have a choice.

"Hello Samus." Dane said.

"Admiral! You have no idea how grateful I am. I was almost sent to jail by that man. You saved me!" Samus thanked.

"Don't even mention it, that bitch has always been a big trouble for the military. He is a gobernor but he is always messing around with the navy."

"And how did you know the projects on the BSL were his'? Samus asked.

"I had some contacts in there. All of them are dead by now. I have to say I'm glad you did destroyed the BSL."

"Indeed, the x could have made an interplanetary infection."

"But tell me, why did you asked me to come here?" The hunter asked.

"Come with me." Admiral Dane said.

Admiral Dane took Samus to the Aurora Unit Chamber. "Samus, I'm afraid we need your help once again, but first, go to that room and download the data. I have a gift for you." Admiral Dane was pointing to a room that was not there the last time she visited the 242. It was a room very similar to those in the BSL research station, the "Data Rooms".

Samus entered the chamber and her fusion suit started to glow, then it disappeared. The machine was making a lot of noise as if working, then she was covered in a yellow halo of light and her suit was in again, but this time it had a different look. Samus saw her reflection in a glass that was on the wall She couldn't believe, her suit was again the same. The chozo original design was complete again. Samus left the room.

"Admiral! Damn I don't know how to thank you, saving my life back there and then THIS." She said very exited with her shiny new armor. "Do not even mention it, you have saved mankind and affiliates lots of times, it is right that somebody saved you at least once. Remember everybody needs help sometime…Even you. But well back to business, many GFS have spotted Space Pirate ships recently." Dane said. The expression of Samus drastically changed from pleased to fear. "BUT THE SPACE PIRATES WERE FINISHED YEARS AGO!" She affirmed.

"I know, that's what worries me the most, Aurora unit should tell you more than I can, and Samus…Good luck." The admiral walked away and Samus proceeded to talk to the 242.

"_Welcome Samus Aran. Let us begin with a quick summary about your suit's status. Our engineers managed to update all of the Chozo original weapons. All the parts that were surgically removed due to x infection have been replaced by exact replicas. Your suit efficiency is now at 100, rather than the 80 of the omega fusion suit. _

_Now I will give you an update of your next assignment. In the outskirts of the federation controlled space, we have received several reports of space pirate ships going to the same direction. The GFS Asgard managed to follow one of these ships without being discovered. The ships are all going to the same system and staying there, as if it was a rendezvous point._

_We need you to go there and investigate what the pirates are up too, and where they were hiding as their system and homeworld is deserted, and we have detected a very large fleet for such a weakened race. Good luck"._

Samus retured to her gunship with her all mighty Power suit, tapped the coordinates of the system the space pirates were located and jumped at lightspeed to it.

* * *

**0915 Hours, July 14 2630 (Military Calendar) / UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, landing site in unknown planet.**

"_Chief, Chief! Can you hear me?"_ Cortana said, desperate to know if her long time companion was still alive. As the cryotube opened, the master chief answered, "Yes I can hear you, Cortana, you don't have to shout. Where are we?" The chief asked.

"_I don't know, but my scans indicate we landed on a forerunner vessel the size of a planet, after…. Well, it's hard to say but we have been out there in space for 77 years. We just landed a few hours ago, I don't even know if we are still in the milky way galaxy,"_ The Chief exited the cryotube, and started walking towards the hole the slipspace transition made, he was assimilating what he had just been told. 77 years have passed since he destroyed the ark, all of his friends and teammates must be dead by now, and all that surrounded him must be already forgotten. The savior he was to mankind, his efforts in saving people he didn't know, was all that forgotten? Millions of thoughts passed through John's mind.

It was difficult to assimilate such announcement

Cortana was having it hard too, but she was an AI, she was programmed to be far more rational than humans,_ "Chief, are you alright?"_ She asked to a very affected John.

"Yes, I'm okay, I'm just…. Never mind. What are we supposed to do now?"

Cortana begun thinking, she could think of nothing.

"_I don't know Chief."_

The chief walked to the pedestal, took Cortana chip, inserted it in the back of his helmet and stared at the landscape, the terrain was very familiar to the one he saw when he first landed on installation 04, he could see a forerunner skyline just a few kilometers ahead, as he suddenly spotted lots of red dots on his radar, a monitor appeared before him

"_Greetings Reclaimer, I am 646 Riot Cryout, I'm the monitor of this preservation and research facility, I'm glad you survived such a violent landing." _

"_Research and preservation?"_ Cortana asked. _"Yes, this facility was assigned to navigate through the entire galaxy, gathering information and searching for any possible flood treat. We caught you by pure causality"_

"Any flood sight yet?" Chief asked

"_Nothing since the last outbreak, that occurred 77 years ago. That outbreak was really devastating, Installation 04 alongside with the ark were destroyed. The sentinel factories that were still active within the ark were not enough to repair such damage and our immediate assistance was required. The ark was almost totally rebuilt, and it took around 3.5 years to get it fully functioning. But all of the flood on it's was fully extinguished by the unfinished Installation's pulse."_

The flood threat was fully eradicated. Earth and humanity were saved. The elites and the humans were probably still at peace with each other, maybe the rest of the covenant as well. John realized all of his efforts were not in vain. He was truly the galaxy's hero and savior.

* * *

**14:05 / January 26 20X6 (Cosmic Calendar) / Hunter Class Gunship / Orbiting Unknown Pirate Frigate**

Of the 12 pirate ships in the area, the one Samus was orbiting was far away from the others making it an easy target for infiltration. Samus left her gunship and drifted slowly to the pirate frigate, scanning for any door or vent she could use to infiltrate, but all of them could compromise her stealth. She spotted a pirate dropship heading for the hangar, so she used her grapple beam to get near it and the spider ball to attach to the back of it.

The dropship landed, Samus waited for the hangar to be clear of pirates. As soon as they left, Samus started searching for any vent she could use to reach the main computer without alerting the pirates of her presence. She spotted a ventilation shaft on top of the hangar access door. With a double bomb jump she reached it and made her way to the research labs without alerting the pirates. She was lucky, science team had finished doing whatever they were doing and the room was pirate-free.

There was a large, metallic object of unknown origin in the center. Whatever it was the pirates had already finished with it.

Behind the object there was an enormous computer, Samus proceeded to scan it:

_Log 11 435 68_

_The alien pod we found last week has been fully analyzed; all the information it contained was extracted. It is amazing the vast knowledge concerning a foreign alien race that identified themselves as "forerunners" who colonized a neighbor galaxy._

_It seems they existed approximately 100 000 000 years ago they were technologically at their peek, but then they were confronted by a sentient parasite race who they identified as "the flood." This parasite was able to transform the host into a minion of its own, soon, it started taking over the colonized forerunner planets, and after 300 years of war, they were almost extinguished, and they used the so called "Halo array" as their last resort weapon._

_The halo array seems to be formed of seven ring-like artificial worlds (the halos) and safe heavens (the ark and the "Shield" Worlds). Each ring wiped out all life within its range, and all seven destroyed the entire population of the galaxy, the ark was made to fire the halos from a safe distance. And the shield worlds protected from the halo pulse within the galaxy. _

_This pod seemed to be a warning message from the forerunners to advice of a possible flood threat. The flood seemed to be extragalactic, so they could invade any neighbor galaxy._

_It also contained coordinates to one of the shield worlds. All our science teams must be prepared for immediate departure. We will have to open a wormhole as the shield world is located in another galaxy. The research fleet needs to departure as soon as possible, while the rest of our forces will gather supplies and join research team on the shield world._

Samus downloaded the coordinates to the Shield World. She was walking to the exit when the captain of the pirate frigate informed: We are leaving in 5 minutes; all personnel get to your positions immediately.

Samus was now in a hurry. She returned to the vent she came from and made her way back to the hangar. When she arrived a full squad of shadow pirates were already waiting for her and the hangar exits were protected by energy shields. She swapped her combat visor to thermal visor, and spotted two of the pirates coming to her. A super missile took care of the first two when another one hit her on the back. She turned around, charged her plasma beam and fried the space rat. Two more were shotting at her from the upper level, she charged her seeker missiles and blew both at the same time. She turned to morph ball mode and blew up a power bomb in the energy shield's generator, disabling it. Samus jumped out the ship.


End file.
